Epileptic dog

[PeterRabbitt]

We have a nearly 5 year old viszla/pointer who was officially diagnosed with eplipsey a year ago but has been having fits since she was about 2 and a half-ish.

She's on medication, the vet was quite specific about the fact she can't really go on to a higher dose as she is quite small anyway so her liver wouldn't cope that well in the long run. We knew that there was still a chance of her fitting but we went 6 months without anything and she was averaging one every 6 weeks or so before that but they've started creeping back in again.

She's always had 'full seizures' where she's completely out of it for the duration then a bit dozy for a few hours after. This last week she had a different kind, I think it's called 'focal' where her back legs just went and she weed whilst fitting. She was very conscious of what was happening this time and was visibly distressed during and for quite a while after.

Obviously we logged this with her vet and they just asked us to keep a record of any more she has so they have a note of it for her next medication review. My question is, does anyone know if this different type of fit means she's getting worse or if it's just a natural part of her epilepsy? Or does anyone have experience of this with their own dog?

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

I've no experience, but if you haven't already could you ask for a referral to a neuro specialist? I know in humans they can have to tweak the drugs many times to get them right.

If a higher dose would give her a better quality of life but cause her liver to pack up a couple of years early I'd go for the quality over quantity - but it doesn't sound like that is your only option right now.

[ChestyNut]

Our boy was diagnosed at 2.5, grand male seizures with focal thrown in for good measure.
We had the chat about meds and his liver etc many times. We had 6 monthly bloods to measure but it was always fine! He was on two different meds and a rescue Med if needed.
We had some rough times with cluster seizures and many overnight stays for IV drugs. Brilliant quality of life the rest of the time!
He had a severe one which he had to be aneasthetised to stop, we went to say goodbye...but he recovered and didn’t have another for around 3 years!

He died aged 12 from something totally unrelated to seizures or the meds.

My tips would be....good quality food.
Avoid Christmas tree lights/strobes
Avoid Pine scented products
Drastic change set my boy off so a routine helps

It’s tough but they are so worth it

[PeterRabbitt]

Forgot I started this thread! Interesting about the pine scent, I do clean a lot and make sure it's with nice scents to combat dog smell and overpowering sports kit. Will keep a record and see if there's any correlation.

The problem we have is that she is worse at the vets so taking her for check ups are hard enough without even thinking about MRI's and other things. Once she had to go in overnight due to a snakebite and the vet phoned us to pick her up at 2am as she was completely frantic. Fitted the next day. Same the one and only time she had to go to kennels, was a nervous wreck the day we picked her up and fitted the next day. We try to never leave her but there are obviously times when we have no choice. Happy to stay at home with a dog sitter though.

It's just so horrible to watch, everyone else I know with an epileptic dog was happy and stable after starting meds. I'm still on edge all the time.

[ChestyNut]

It’s hideous isn’t it
My boy wasn’t stable for a looooooong time.
We used a dap plug in and a dap spray to keep him calm in stressful situations.

We didn’t have scans etc, his picture “fitted” epilepsy and he wasn’t insured. Luckily we were right and it was “just” epilepsy.
I do recognise the being on edge feeling all the time

We spent thousands on him over his life time but he was worth every penny.